Traditionally, jails and prisons have allowed inmates to contact friends and family via letters and telephone calls. However, friends and family were required to visit the facility to see an inmate in-person. More recently, jails and prisons have provided other visitation methods, such as videoconferences (video visitation) and online chat sessions, that allow inmates to have real-time contact with remote friends and family. Prior to allowing an inmate to contact someone outside the facility, jail or prison staff must first verify that the remote party is on the inmate's approved contact list. This is to prevent inmates from communicating with unauthorized individuals, such as gang members, or protected people, such as victims, witnesses, or court staff. However, because the jail or prison does not have control over the remote friend or family member, an authorized contact may improperly reroute inmate communications to unapproved contacts, such as by call forwarding, conference calling, or videoconferencing.